Hi! I'm completely new to this studyblr thing but I've always wanted to make my notes look so much more attractive than before. Just wanted to ask, what's your advice for beginners like me (especially if I don't draw so well) and maybe some suggestions for brands of paper and pens I can use? Thanks so much! :) And your posts are awesome btw.

Hello! Welcome! My advice would be experiment with the types of notes you like and which are most effective for you. Save some of your favourite examples and use them as inspiration for your own. Here are a few quick suggestions:

I suggest reblogging ones that you like and then tagging them with something like ‘ref’ so you can see them later. At least that way they don’t get lost in your likes. Here are a few notetaking posts that you might enjoy:

For stationery, basic notebooks are cheapest and work perfect for what you need. I’m a fan of spiral notebooks because you can bend them more easier than other ones. I’m a big fan of the Arc Notebook by Staples which has lined paper perfect for notetaking. Muji paper is good too, a lot thinner though so I prefer the Arc paper. For pens my favourite ballpoint pens are the Staedtler 432 Ice Ballpoint pens. I like their Triplus Fineliners however I find that after a while the nibs bend to make the size of the lines go really thick. The Muji 0.5 gel pens are great as well. They’re a good selection of colours and have lasted for a long time! If you’re not bothered about colour coding, then Bic or Papermate pens are just as good. For highlighters, I love Zebra Mildliners! Stabilo Swing Cool Highlighters are also pretty good. I hope this helps, and thank you! xx

Hi Emma! I'm starting school soon and I want to be productive this year. Do you have like a list of must-have supplies? I need to buy everything again! Like pens, highlighters, etc... Thank you so much! Love your blog!

Hi! I’m going to list and link everything I generally use. You might have to add and remove something’s depending on how you like to organise. Hopefully this helps.

I have a few things that I keep at home to organise all my stuff, including:

a four ring binder per subject or topic (depending how much paper I need)

calendar/planner/agenda - Check out this answer for links to looooads of different planners

whiteboard

Staedtler fine liners - I didn’t use these at school since I found them difficult to write neatly with in class but they’re great pens (except for some issues with the nibs!)

book stand - I found one my mum got in a magazine and it was great for note taking from more than one book.

For school I would use:

an Arc notebook by Staples - I own both a leather and poly covered one. I personally prefer the poly cover for school since it’s easy to flip around, plus it is soo much cheaper! You can check out a post I did on my system here.

Exercise books - I haven’t used proper exercise books since switching to the Arc system, however if I were to purchase some they would be spiral bound! The ones with holes to fit in your binder are great for school. Typo, Muji and Officeworks have some nice ones.

Staedtler Stick 432 Ice Ballpoint Pens - I started using these after I stopped with the fineliners since they were the same colours so my colour code didn’t have to change. I think they’re great, easy to hold and have lasted a long time!

Stabilo Swing Cool highlighters - for the most I have l liked these however they seem to run out pretty fast with the amount of highlighting I do and sometimes the big breaks which ruins the smoothness.

Zebra mildliners - I am thinking of buying a pack after the amount I’ve seen them on Tumblr. I love their colours, especially the pastel ones.

Pencil case - I use an Emma Bridgewater one, it’s a compact size which I really like however it doesn’t hold that much.

Muji highlighters - again I’ve never used these but they look really cute and are popular with studyblrs!

Display folder - sometimes I’d take a display folder as well to put all my sheets in. It’s a lot thinner than a binder so it’s great for shoving in your bag.

However in general most people in my year would use a 2 ring binder, plastic sleeve and excercise books with holes. Since I’m a lover of stationary I decided to do something else but it is a very simple and effective way of keeping order with only basic stationary. Have a lovely day x

Hi! This is copied from a post I did about colour coding. Hopefully this helps x

Don’t over complicate! You don’t need to have 20 different colours but around 7 or 8 so it’s still easy to remember. Identifying what areas you want to highlight (for general and subject specific) is a great way to start. This can include terms, formulas, dates, etc!

Gather your supplies. Obviously you’ll need an assorted pack of coloured pens to start your system. I use Staedtler Stick 432 Ice Ballpoint Pens and Stabilo Swing Cool Highlighters since the colours are very similar and therefore work for both writing and highlighting. You could also use coloured post-it notes for annotating!

Use examples to sort your own code! Seeing what other people are doing and applying your own twist is good way to get started. My colour code was created for general use but mainly for business and legal studies. My system is as follows:

Black - for general notes.

Yellow (highlighter only) - for important information that outlines the point.

Light blue (pen and highlighter) - for terms and their definitions/synonyms.

Avoid over-doing-it. Write mostly in black. It is easiest to keep your general notes in a dull colour so the important parts stand out. Try not to make your page a rainbow! You only want certain parts to stand out so limit what you’re writing or highlighting. Also, changing pens every minute is a waste of time, so keeping everything brief and minimal is the best way!

Finally, remember your code! Write down somewhere the meaning behind each colour. This could be on your phone, in a planner or at the beginning of each notebook - whatever works for you! After a while you’ll just know what the colours means and that will make finding material and information much easier.